1 8/10/2015

Steve Whittaker, Ph.D.

Public Health Researcher

Mercury and fluorescent lighting

Outline

• How does fluorescent lighting work?

• Why mercury?

• The problem with landfilling

• The mercury cycle

• Mercury health effects

Inside a Fluorescent Lamp

Source: Elektronika Dasar

http://elektronika-dasar.web.id/teori-elektronika/karakteristik-dan-prinsip-kerja-lampu-tl-fluorescent-lamp/

Why recycle fluorescent bulbs and tubes?

Source: Marion County, OR

22 mg 14 mg

Why recycle fluorescent bulbs and tubes?

• Average mercury content:

• Tubes MSW typically break before disposal

• 20-80% of mercury volatilized in landfill

• Mercury levels exceed OSHA limit of 0.1 mg/m3 shortly after breakage

• Organic mercury in landfill gas

New Jersey Mercury Task Force report: www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/mercury_task_force.htm

•Persistent

•Bioaccumulative

• Toxic

Source: Mercury rising, Salon.com

Mercury

Estimated Mercury in Products Disposed of Annually in Washington State

Mercury Products

Estimated pounds of mercury disposed with solid or medical

waste or sewage annually

Fluorescent lamps 437 - 505

Thermostats 412

Dental amalgam from dental facilities >404

Auto convenience light switches 253

Button cell batteries 88

Dental amalgam in feces and urine 61

Household fever thermometers 11 - 300

TOTAL 1,666 – 2,023

Source: Ecology Mercury Chemical Action Plan, January 2003

Export of atmospheric mercury from Asia

Daniel Jaffe et al. Atmospheric Environment 39 (2005) 3029–3038

Mercury - Inorganic & Organic

Hg

CH3

Inorganic - Quicksilver

Hg

Organic – Methyl Mercury

Adapted from: A Small Dose of Mercury, Steve Gilbert, INND, Seattle WA.

Elemental mercury

• Silver-colored liquid

• Used for centuries for gold mining, thermometers, dental amalgam , etc., etc.

• Evaporates at room temperature

• Very toxic by inhalation

• Multiple health effects - neurotoxicity, renal toxicity, hypertension, lung toxicity, etc.

• Death in children from respiratory failure

• Can be transformed to organomercury compounds

Source: Utah Department of Environmental Quality, www.deq.utah.gov/Pollutants/M/mercury/facts/atmospherictransport.htm

Discharge in Minamata Bay

Adapted from: A Small Dose of Mercury, Steve Gilbert, INND, Seattle WA.

Fetal Effects of MeHg

Adapted from: A Small Dose of Mercury, Steve Gilbert, INND, Seattle WA.

Planting Seed with Mercury - Iraq

Adapted from: A Small Dose of Mercury, Steve Gilbert, INND, Seattle WA.

Store-Bought / Commercial Fish :

• Don't eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, Tilefish, or Tuna Steaks

Sport-Caught / Recreational Fish :

Women who are or might become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children:

• Don't eat Northern Pikeminnow • Limit eating Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass

Statewide Mercury Advisories for Fish

Source: www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Food/Fish/MercuryAdvisories

Mercury advisories by waterbody: • Columbia River (Middle) • Columbia River (Upper) / Lake Roosevelt • Lake Whatcom • Pend Oreille River • Puget Sound

Methylmercury Health Effects

• Long-term exposure affects the nervous system: – Disturbances in vision, hearing and speech – Tingling and numbness in fingers and toes – Lack of coordination – Muscle weakness

• Children and unborn babies: – Methylmercury consumed by the mother can enter her

fetus and passed on in breast milk to nursing infants. – Altered memory, attention and language development

in children with exposures in the womb and/or soon after birth.

– Subtle nervous system effects in children of mothers eating fish and shellfish containing methylmercury while pregnant and/or shortly after giving birth

Mercury distribution

and exposure is a global

problem

Adapted from: A Small Dose of Mercury, Steve Gilbert, INND, Seattle WA.

19 8/10/2015

Acknowledgments

• Steve Gilbert, INND, Toxipedia

• Will Perry, LHWMP